This title was in my hands as soon as I saw it, about 4 years ago. My colleagues and elders began to educate me, so I was immersed without reading the book. I knew I had carried it for a time like this!
Abstract
Reproductive Justice: An Introduction was an amazing primer, the first of its kind for people who need a handheld bit into a movement. It gives the foundation and practical application of an intersectional analysis of race, class and gender politics for global human rights. The purpose of the book is to center the Black femme perspective on the movement, while acknowledging the cultural shifts and leaders who have brought it thusfar. My main takeaways were being able to frame and understand RJ talking points even better. For example, their account of the development of government MCH systems and its alignment with sentiments of population control are critical for all advocates. Their discussion of the moral belief in the “U.S white mother” excited me because of the sociological lean on their explanation.
Author: Loretta Ross & Rickie Solinger
Overview
This book is organized as a history book and reads as such. Ross and Salinger explain the framework, movement and the political perspectives driving it. It is a fantastic mesh of RJ topics to get any new advocate up to speed on the conversational talking points of the movement. It opens with history of the inception of the concept of RJ and how it has developed in the 21st century. The sections thereafter are about managing fertility and the right to parent. The end of the book gives first-person perspective from leaders of RJ organizations across the country. Interestingly, it discusses the organizational perspective and omits critique of funding sources. However, their storytelling on their professional trajectories and activism inspirations are helpful for context. It demonstrates that all people have some connection to RJ.
Highlights & Synthesis
I feel like the first time that I read Killing the Black Body, by Dr. Dorothy Roberts; overwhelmed with information, buzzing with disgust, and recommitted to Reproductive Justice. Even more seasoned activists may be pleasantly overwhelmed with the amount of information; this is a true history book. From a writer’s perspective, I noticed that Loretta Ross’s oral presentation is similar to how she writes in this book. That is an indicator of authenticity, to me. I wondered if they were already preparing for the follow-up, Radical Reproductive Justice, when this was written. I cannot draw new conclusions, but I am more interested in aspects of RJ now that I hear the perspective of one of the RJ founders. Those are; climate and environmental justice, gentrification and housing, surrogacy and the liberatory “nation building” mindset of many Black birthing people. New connections I made include weaving a story of racial capitalism through the RJ history presented.
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